Day 10—Self-Control

Matthew 4:1-11 Suggestions for Intercessory Prayer Feel free to claim other promises as well. Remember, all of God’s biddings are His enablings! Praise God that He gives you strength to have self-control. Praise God for the ways He has given

you strength to have self-control in specific situations. It is God who arms me with strength, and makes my way perfect. Ps. 18:32

Praise God that His strength is made perfect in your weakness.

And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” 2 Cor. 12:9

Praise God that He is the one who gives you willingness and helps you to have self-control.

For it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure. Phil. 2:13

Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place. 2 Cor. 2:14

Ask God to make you willing to have self-control.

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Rom. 12:1, 2

Ask God to help you hate the things of the world and to give you love for Him and Him only. Tell Him about those things that you need to learn to hate.

Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever. 1 John 2:15-17

Ask God to remind you every time you are tempted that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit.

Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s. 1 Cor. 6:19, 20 As His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. 2 Pet. 1:3, 4

Ask God to help you do everything for His glory.

Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. 1 Cor. 10:31

Ask God to help you live a life hidden in Him. I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. Gal. 2:20

Pray for the united evangelistic and witnessing activities of every Seventh-day Adventist man,

woman, and child around the world. Pray that we are empowered by the Holy Spirit as we submit to His leading in our lives.

But the Lord said to me: “Do not say, ‘I am a youth,’ for you shall go to all to whom I send you, and whatever I command you, you shall speak. Do not be afraid of their faces, for I am with you to deliver you,” says the Lord. Jer. 1:7, 8

Pray that God will bring to the forefront godly, teachable, and humble leaders for the future

who will provide Christ-centered leadership as His church fulfills its heaven-born mandate to the world.

You also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 1 Pet. 2:5

Pray that Christ will bring peace and love into Seventh-day Adventist families and homes. Pray

that His presence will drive away abuse and stress through the sanctifying power of His righteousness.

But above all these things, put on love, which is the bond of perfection. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful. Col. 3:14, 15

Mission to the Cities—Pray for the West-Central Africa Division and the cities they are working to

reach for Christ: Lagos, Nigeria; Douala, Cameroon; Calabar, Nigeria; Accra, Ghana; Abuja, Nigeria; and Lome, Togo. Pray that people will see their need of Christ and call upon Him.

For “whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.” Rom. 10:13

Pray for any personal needs or anything on your heart. And my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Phil. 4:19

Praise God that nothing is impossible with Him and that He has heard and answered your

prayers. For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him. 2 Chron. 16:9a

At the end of prayer time you may want to form groups of two or three and pray for the seven people that you have on your list. Pray that they will treat their bodies as the temple of the Holy Spirit and that they will have self-control. Claim 1 Cor. 10:13 for them: “No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.” If you have a personal prayer request that you are not comfortable praying about in the large group, feel free to share with your partner and pray about it together. Suggested Songs “I Love You Lord”; “Jesus Loves Me” (SDA Hymnal #190); “A Child of the King” (SDA Hymnal #468); “I Will Sing of Jesus’ Love” (SDA Hymnal #183); “Stand Up! Stand Up for Jesus” (SDA Hymnal #618); “Onward, Christian Soldiers!” (SDA Hymnal #612).

Ellen White on Self-Control But the fruit of the Spirit is . . . self-control.—Gal. 5:22, 23

God requires all men to render their bodies to Him a living sacrifice, not a dead or a dying sacrifice, a

sacrifice which their own course of action is debilitating, filling with impurities and disease. God calls for a living sacrifice. The body, He tells us, is the temple of the Holy Ghost, the habitation of His Spirit, and He requires all who bear His image to take care of their bodies for the purpose of His service and His glory. “Ye are not your own,” says the inspired apostle, “ye are bought with a price”; wherefore “glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s” (1 Corinthians 6:19, 20). In order to do this, add to virtue knowledge, and to knowledge temperance, and to temperance patience.

It is a duty to know how to preserve the body in the very best condition of health, and it is a sacred duty to live up to the light which God has graciously given. If we close our eyes to the light for fear we shall see our wrongs, which we are unwilling to forsake, our sins are not lessened but increased. If light is turned from in one case, it will be disregarded in another.

It is just as much sin to violate the laws of our being as to break one of the Ten Commandments, for we cannot do either without breaking God’s law. We cannot love the Lord with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength while we are loving our appetites, our tastes, a great deal better than we love the Lord. We are daily lessening our strength to glorify God, when He requires all our strength, all our mind. By our wrong habits we are lessening our hold on life, and yet professing to be Christ’s followers, preparing for the finishing touch of immortality. . . (Ye Shall Receive Power, p. 79).

A strict compliance with the Bible requirements will be a blessing, not only to the soul, but to the body.

The fruit of the Spirit is not only love, joy, and peace, but temperance also. We are enjoined not to defile our bodies, for they are the temples of the Holy Ghost. The case of Daniel shows us, that, through religious principle, young men may triumph over the lust of the flesh and remain true to God’s requirements, even though it cost them a great sacrifice. What if he had made a compromise with those heathen officers, and had yielded to the pressure of the occasion by eating and drinking as was customary with the Babylonians? That one wrong step would probably have led to others, until, his connection with heaven being severed, he would have been borne away by temptation. But while he clung to God with unwavering trust, the spirit of prophetic power came upon him. While he was instructed of man in the duties of court life, he was taught of God to read the mysteries of future ages (Testimonies for the Church, vol. 4, p. 570).

Closely examine your own hearts, and in your lives imitate the unerring Pattern, and all will be well

with you. Preserve a clear conscience before God. In all you do glorify His name. Divest yourselves of selfishness and selfish love (Testimonies for the Church, vol. 2, p. 71).

Questions for Personal Reflection 1. In which areas of life do you need more self-control? Make a list of them and present them to God. Claim

His promises for victory and praise Him in advance for the victory He is going to give. 2. Do you know anyone else who needs more self-control? Take some time to pray and claim God’s

promises for this person as well.